Divers who salvaged the wreck of Donald Campbell's boat Bluebird from the bottom of Coniston Water believe they have also found his body, according to reports.

The team which raised Bluebird last week has told the Sunday Telegraph that checks with sonar equipment have identified an object which looks like a skeleton lying near the spot where the boat was found.

Campbell was killed on the Cumbrian lake 34 years ago when he crashed while trying to break the world water speed record.

Some of the 45-year-old's clothes, including his helmet, shoes, life jacket and teddy bear mascot were recovered at the time but his body was not found.

Diver Bill Smith and his team have spent months combing the bottom of the 150ft deep lake but poor visibility and difficult underwater conditions have hampered efforts to pinpoint the location of the possible body.

Bluebird was winched to the surface last week after a three-hour operation to tow it to the lakeside from its resting place.

Donald Campbell was trying to beat his own world record

The legendary figure was trying to break his own water speed record of 276mph on 4 January, 1967, when the boat vaulted from the lake's surface and somersaulted repeatedly before crashing, killing him instantly.

His last words are reputed to have been "A complete accident. No details. Over," shouted over his radio link to the shore.

Bluebird was discovered by enthusiasts late last year after a four-year hunt and has been filmed by a BBC crew.

Campbell came from a dynasty of world speed record breakers. His father Sir Malcolm Campbell set the land speed record in 1935.

Last year, Sir Malcolm's grandson, and Donald's nephew, Don Wales smashed the British land-speed record for an electrically-powered car.